Verizon, Redbox get ready to go toe-to-toe with Netflix

Remember when Verizon (VZ) and Coinstar’s (CSTR) Redbox agreed earlier this year to create a joint video streaming service? Well, it seems the two companies are finally ready to start testing it out, as All Things D reports the new service is undergoing alpha testing with the hopes of launching later this year. But as the report states, users should keep their expectations somewhat low when it comes to the new Redbox Instant service, since it will likely focus more on movies than popular television shows and it probably won’t feature a lot of hot recent releases since “Hollywood studios weren’t excited about giving Netflix (NFLX) access to relatively recent films for its service, and I don’t think they’ll treat Redbox Instant any differently.”